THE JAMAICA SEAL III 



distributed over the thousands of reefs and islets 

 which dot the azure waters of the American 

 Mediterranean. These scattered reefs are formed 

 of coral rock, and rise precipitously from a depth of 

 sixteen or more fathoms to a height of twelve or 

 thirteen feet above the surface ; in the past they 

 have caused thousands of accidents, strewing the 

 sea with wreckage. To the seals, however, they are 

 ideal retreats, since the very abruptness of these 

 marine precipices ensures, in case of danger, a quick 

 dive into deep water; while, if no harm threaten, 

 the animals can bask for hours together on the white 

 coral sand, alive with the tiny calling crabs that run 

 over its snowy surface. Food is abundant; the 

 Caribbean swarms with valuable fish adapted even 

 for human consumption, as, for instance, the grunts, 

 which, striped with gold on a ground of silver or 

 azure, occur off the coast of Jamaica. The lovely 

 Chcstodon striatus, banded with black and yellow; 

 the angel fish, tinted azure blue; the king mullet, 

 livid-spotted on a pink skin ; and the yellow-tail, 

 azure above, pearl below, gold band on side, all 

 share the warmth of the Gulf Stream.^ The 

 closely-locking jaws of the Jamaica seal well 

 serve to hold such slippery prey; but it has been 



1 The angel chietodon is by no means of angelic habits. In aquariums 

 it has been fcjund to be a siid bully, harrying and even killing weaker 

 tish. At the Island of Sta Catalina, twenty-two miles from the 

 C'alifornian coast, where visitors are taken out to view the sea forests in a 

 j^lass-bottomed boat, the Pacific seals have been actually observed to 

 teed on yellow-tails (see Field, December lOth, 1904). 



